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out, and it slithered constantly along that path, alert for intruders.
"Perhaps we can sneak across while the dragon is on the other side of the castle," Baal said.
However, she suspected that there would be a catch to any solution that simple. Caution was best. So she
examined the region more carefully, moving from bush to bush to get the best view. She saw that the
trees and bushes resumed inside the dragon's path, providing some cover, but that there were many
avenues for the dragon to follow there. So if someone got across, but the dragon smelled him, the dragon
could pursue him well enough. Probably the dragon would pass that region before the person made it all
the way to the castle anyway. Even the slightest ill-timing would be disastrous.
And what of the castle? Surely there were armed sentries, who would cry the alarm and bring the
defendants with their arrows and spears. Even if there were not, how was a person to get into the castle?
It was a stone edifice without windows at the lower reaches.
Well, first things first. There had to be a way, and not too difficult, because this was only the second level
of what she understood was a five-level game. She just had to figure it out. There was a river that passed
close to the ramparts. That was no doubt the water supply. It had not been wholly diverted into the moat;
it merely kissed the base of a wall and meandered on out again, playfully. The dragon's path crossed it at
two places, where neat, solid-stone bridges had been built. Probably the castle denizens used those
bridges too.
Which meant that the dragon didn't attack them. Because otherwise they would have no way to come and
go. There had to be some way for them to let the dragon know that they were friends rather than enemies.
And therein might lie the key to entry.
"Maybe it's all a bluff," Baal said. "Anyone who crosses with assurance is not molested. So we'll try it."
She turned to one of the Joe Blow characters. "Walk boldly down to that bridge and cross, as if you have
no fear," she said.
"I have no fear," the man agreed, and walked down.
They watched from cover as he approached the bridge. The dragon had just passed it, so it was a good
time to cross. He crossed and proceeded in toward the castle.
The dragon abruptly stopped. Then it turned around and slithered rapidly back to the bridge. It spied the
man. It aimed its snout and fired out a long jet of flame.
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The man went up in smoke, literally. He screamed, and his arms waved wildly, but the flame was
unrelenting. In a moment nothing but a pile of ashes remained.
"I think that wasn't the way," Baal remarked. She was schooling herself not to overreact; that was not a
man who had been killed, but a game construct in the form of a man. It was worth no more concern than
a fallen chesspiece. Still, her heart was beating, and she knew that it was her real heart she felt, not that of
the heartless game character she was animating. That had been a fantastic but uncomfortably realistic
killing. She even caught a whiff of scorched flesh, as if the errant wind had brought it to her. The odors
the game equipment could produce were limited, but in the ambience of the scene, this was effective. She
felt like retching.
But something bothered her. The dragon had not smelled the man. It had stopped, then turned, as if aware
that something was going on. Had smell been the factor, it would have stopped the moment the man set
foot on the bridge. Instead it had delayed several seconds, then changed its mind. Why? Something else
must have given it the clue.
Could someone in the castle have seen the figure, and somehow signaled the dragon? That seemed
unlikely; the bridge was out of sight of the castle, because of several shielding trees. And how had the
signaling been done? Baal had seen nothing. Of course she had not been watching the dragon closely,
until it stopped and turned. How had it known?
Baal realized that she did not dare try the crossing herself until she knew the answer.
She saw no better way than sacrificing another piece. She felt guilty, but reminded herself again that
these were not real people. She had to use them to win her game, or she would be the one who got
demolished.
"Doodoo, go down and cross that bridge," she said to the closer of the two. "Try to time it so that the
dragon doesn't see you."
The farther Doodoo got up without question and walked to the bridge. He waited for the dragon to pass,
then crossed. This time Baal watched the dragon closely.
A flicker of light played across the dragon's scales, then touched its near eye. Immediately the dragon
stopped, reversed, and charged after the man just stepping off the bridge.
Baal shielded her eyes with her hand. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "The dragon's going to get him!" But
under the cover of her hand, she was looking around at her own men. Because that spot of light that had
touched the dragon had been on the near side, which meant that a member of her party had a mirror.
There was a traitor in her group!
She saw no mirror. Whoever it was must have hidden it the moment the dragon responded.
But she could figure it out anyway. Because it was dishonest to be a traitor to one's own party, and only
Doodoo could be dishonest. And now she remembered that the wrong Doodoo had gone out to the bridge.
She had spoken to the nearer one, but the farther one had gone. Because the nearer one had not chosen to
respond. Because that one was the traitor, who served not Baal but the game, as a threat.
So now she knew. But how could she plan anything, if the traitor was going to mess it up? She needed to
be rid of that person. But not openly, because it was surely to her advantage to have the game not know
she had caught on.
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She pondered, and managed to think of something that might work. She turned to True.
"I think the personnel of the castle must have something to let the dragon know they're all right," Baal
said. "So they can cross the bridge without getting burned up. We need to find out what it is. Then we can
get it and use it to pass the dragon."
No one commented. Baal realized that while they would respond to her direct questions or directives,
they ignored anything else. She had to take the initiative, since she was the only member of this party
who cared about the outcome of the quest.
"Are there any people associated with the castle who are outside the dragon's path?" Baal asked True, not
expecting any meaningful answer. She was just setting it up for a search.
"I believe there are," he replied, surprising her. That suggested that she was on the right track. "I heard
some voices by the river."
"Then we shall check the river, remaining hidden," she decided.
They proceeded cautiously in the direction True indicated. Sure enough, there were two young women
bathing and frolicking in a shallow bend of the river. They splashed each other and laughed, heedless of
the nearby dragon path.
Baal watched and listened carefully as they sneaked closer. After a while, the girls repeated their actions
and laughter, exactly as before. They were on a programmed cycle. Probably everything in this setting
was similarly programmed, waiting for the player to interact with it. So while this was a more
sophisticated challenge than those of the Novice level, it was of a similar underlying nature.
Now to get clever, she hoped. "We need to find out what those girls have that stops the dragon from
bothering them," she said. "It doesn't seem to be anything on their bodies, for they are bare." Indeed, they
were nymphlike, with flowing waist-length hair, large breasts, narrow waists, and long firm-fleshed legs.
Baal would love to have a body like that, even a diabetic one. "So it must be something they know or do.
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